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Lynn Redgrave

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Lynn Redgrave
OBE
Redgrave in 1999
Born
Lynn Rachel Redgrave

(1943-03-08)8 March 1943
Marylebone,London, England
Died2 May 2010(2010-05-02)(aged 67)
Kent, Connecticut,U.S.
Resting placeSt. Peter's Episcopal Cemetery
Lithgow, New York,U.S.
CitizenshipUnited Kingdom
United States
Alma materRoyal Central School of Speech and Drama
OccupationActress
Years active1962–2010
Spouse
​
​
(m.1967;div.2000)​
Children3
Parents
FamilyVanessa Redgrave(sister)
Natasha Richardson(niece)
Joely Richardson(niece)
Websitewww.redgrave.com

Lynn Rachel RedgraveOBE(8 March 1943 – 2 May 2010) was a British-American actress. She won twoGolden Globe Awardsduring her career.

A member of theRedgrave familyof actors, Lynn trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962. By the mid-1960s, she had appeared in several films, includingTom Jones(1963) andGeorgy Girl(1966), which won her aNew York Film Critics Awardand aGolden Globe Awardfor Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy, as well as earning her a nomination for theAcademy Award for Best Actress.

Redgrave made herBroadwaydebut in 1967 and performed in several stage productions in New York City while making frequent returns to London'sWest End.Redgrave performed with her sisterVanessainThree Sistersin London and in the title role ofBaby Jane Hudsonin a television production ofWhat Ever Happened to Baby Jane?in 1991.

Redgrave made a return to cinema in the late 1990s, in films such asShine(1996) andGods and Monsters(1998), for which she received her second Academy Award nomination and won a Golden Globe Award For Best Supporting Actress. Lynn Redgrave is the only person to have been nominated for all of the 'Big Four' American entertainment awards (Emmy,Grammy,OscarandTony,collectively known when all four have been won as "EGOT") – without winning any of them.[1]

Early life and theatrical family[edit]

Main article:Redgrave family

Redgrave was born inMarylebone,London, the youngest child of actorsSir Michael RedgraveandRachel Kempson.Her sister is actressVanessa Redgrave;her brother was actor and political activistCorin Redgrave.She was the aunt of writer/directorCarlo Gabriel Neroand of actressesJoely Richardson,Jemma RedgraveandNatasha Richardson,and the sister-in-law of directorTony Richardson,actressKika Markhamand Italian actorFranco Nero.Her grandfather wassilent screenleading manRoy Redgrave.

Career[edit]

Redgrave family (l. to r. Jemma, Corin, Lynn and Vanessa Redgrave) bowing after reading "Poems from Guantánamo:The Detainees Speak "

After training at London'sCentral School of Speech and Drama,Redgrave made her professional debut in a 1962 production ofA Midsummer Night's Dreamat theRoyal Court Theatre.[2]Following a tour ofBilly Liarandrepertorywork inDundee,she made herWest Enddebut at theHaymarket,inN. C. Hunter'sThe Tulip TreewithCelia JohnsonandJohn Clements.

She was invited to join theNational Theatrefor its inaugural season at theOld Vic,working with such directors asLaurence Olivier,Franco ZeffirelliandNoël Cowardin roles like Rose inThe Recruiting Officer,Barblin inAndorra,Jackie inHay Fever,Kattrin inMother Courage,Miss Prue inLove for Loveand Margaret inMuch Ado About Nothing,which kept her busy for the next three years. During that time, she appeared in films such asTom Jones(1963),Girl with Green Eyes(1964),The Deadly Affair(1966), and the title role inGeorgy Girl(also 1966, and which featured her mother, Rachel Kempson). For the last of these roles, she gained theNew York Film Critics Award,the Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination. In 1967, she made her Broadway debut inBlack ComedywithMichael CrawfordandGeraldine Page.London appearances includedMichael Frayn'sThe Two of UswithRichard Briersat theGarrick,David Hare'sSlagat the Royal Court andBorn Yesterday,directed byTom StoppardatGreenwichin 1973.

Redgrave returned to Broadway in 1974, inMy Fat Friend.There soon followedKnock KnockwithCharles Durning,Mrs. Warren's Profession(for aTonynomination) withRuth GordonandSaint Joan.During the 1985–86 season she appeared withRex Harrison,Claudette ColbertandJeremy BrettinAren't We All?,and withMary Tyler MooreinA. R. Gurney'sSweet Sue.In 1983, Redgrave playedCleopatrain an American television version ofAntony and CleopatraoppositeTimothy Dalton.She was inMisalliancein Chicago withIrene Worth(earning the Sarah Siddons and Joseph Jefferson awards),Twelfth Nightat the American Shakespeare Festival,California Suite,The King and I,Hellzapoppin',Les Dames du Jeudi,Les Liaisons DangereusesandThe Cherry Orchard.In 1988, she narrated a dramatised television documentary,Silent Mouse,which told the story of the creation of the Christmas carolSilent Night.She starred withStewart GrangerandRicardo Montalbánin a Hollywood production ofDon Juan in Hellin the early winter of 1991.

With her sister Vanessa as Olga, she returned to the London stage playing Masha inThree Sistersin 1991 at theQueen's Theatre,London, and later played the title role in a television production ofWhatever Happened to Baby Jane?again with her sister. Highlights of her early film career also includeThe National Health,Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask),The Happy HookerandGetting It Right.In the United States she was seen in such television series asTeachers Only,House Calls,CentennialandChicken Soup.She also starred inBBCproductions such asThe Faint-Hearted Feminist,A Woman Alone,Death of a Son,Calling the ShotsandFighting Back.She played Broadway again inMoon Over Buffalo(1996) with co-starRobert Gouletand starred in the world premiere ofTennessee Williams'The Notebook of Trigorin,based onAnton Chekhov'sThe Seagull.She won theDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Playfor her performance inTalking Heads.

Redgrave became well-known in the United States after appearing in the television seriesHouse Calls,for which she received an Emmy nomination. She was fired from the series after she insisted on bringing her child to rehearsals so as to continue a breastfeeding schedule. A lawsuit ensued but was dismissed a few years later. Following that, she appeared in a long-running series of television commercials forH. J. Heinz Company,then the manufacturer of the weight loss foods forWeight Watchers,a Heinz subsidiary. Her signature line for the ads was "This Is Living, Not Dieting!". She wrote a book of her life experiences with the same title,[3]which included a selection of Weight Watchers recipes. The autobiographical section later became the basis of her one-woman playShakespeare for My Father.

In 1989, she appeared on Broadway inLove Letterswith her husbandJohn Clark,and thereafter they performed the play around the country, on one occasion for the jury in theO. J. Simpsoncase. In 1993, she appeared on Broadway in the one-woman playShakespeare for My Father,which Clark produced and directed. She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. In 1993, she was elected president of thePlayers' Club.

In 2005, Redgrave appeared atQuinnipiac UniversityandConnecticut Collegein the playSisters of the Garden,about the sistersFannyand Rebekka Mendelssohn andNadiaandLili Boulanger.[4]She was also reported to be writing a one-woman play about her battle with breast cancer and her 2003mastectomy,based on her bookJournal: A Mother and Daughter's Recovery from Breast Cancerwith photos by her daughter Annabel and text by Redgrave herself.[5]

In September 2006, she appeared inNightingale,the U.S. premiere of her new one-woman play based upon her maternal grandmother Beatrice, at Los Angeles'Mark Taper Forum.She also performed the play in May 2007 at Hartford Stage inHartford, Connecticut.In 2007, she appeared in an episode ofDesperate Housewivesas Dahlia Hainsworth, the mother ofSusan Delfino's boyfriend Ian Hainsworth.

Redgrave at the2009 Toronto International Film Festival

In 2009, she was inducted into theAmerican Theatre Hall of Fame.[6]

Voice work[edit]

Redgrave narrated approximately 20 audiobooks, includingPrince Caspian: The Chronicles of NarniabyC. S. Lewisfor Harper Audio[7]andInkheartbyCornelia Funkefor Listening Library.[8]

Personal life[edit]

On 2 April 1967, Lynn Redgrave married actorJohn Clark.[9][10]Together they had three children. Her marriage to Clark was dissolved in 2000, two years after he revealed that he had had an affair with her personal assistant, Nicolette Hannah, and that Lynn's supposed grandson Zachary was in fact Clark's own son by Hannah, who had married (and subsequently divorced) their son Benjamin.[11]The divorce proceedings were acrimonious and became front-page news, with Clark alleging that Redgrave had also been unfaithful.[12][13]

On 5 January 1998, Redgrave became anaturalised citizenof the United States.[14]

Redgrave was appointed anOfficer of the Order of the British Empirein the2002 New Year Honoursfor services to acting and the cinema and to the British community in Los Angeles.[15]

Death[edit]

Redgrave discussed her health problems associated withbulimiaand breast cancer. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2002, had amastectomyin January 2003 and underwentchemotherapy.[16]She ultimately died from the cancer[17]at her home inKent, Connecticuton 2 May 2010, aged 67.[18]

Redgrave's funeral was held on 8 May 2010 at the FirstCongregational Churchin Kent. She was interred in St Peter's Episcopal Cemetery in the hamlet ofLithgow, New York,where her mother Rachel Kempson and her niece Natasha Richardson are also interred.[19]

In 2012, theFolger Shakespeare Libraryacquired Redgrave's collection of personal papers and photographs.[20]

Legacy[edit]

In 2001, Lynn Redgrave received a LIVING LEGEND honor at The WINFemme Film Festival and The Women's Network Image Awards.[21]

In 2013, the Bleecker Street Theater (Off-Broadway) was renamed theLynn Redgrave Theater.[22][23]

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1960 Shoot to Kill Minor Role Uncredited
1963 Tom Jones Susan
1964 Girl with Green Eyes Baba Brennan
1966 Georgy Girl Georgy
1966 The Family Way Uncredited
1967 The Deadly Affair Virgin
1967 Smashing Time Yvonne
1969 The Virgin Soldiers Phillipa Raskin
1970 Last of the Mobile Hot Shots Myrtle Kane
1971 Long Live Your Death Mary O'Donnell AKA,Don't Turn the Other Cheek!
1972 Every Little Crook and Nanny Miss Poole
1972 Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) The Queen
1973 The National Health Nurse Betty Martin
1975 The Happy Hooker Xaviera Hollander
1976 The Big Bus Camille Levy
1980 Sunday Lovers Lady Davina (segment "An Englishman's Home" )
1987 Morgan Stewart's Coming Home Nancy Stewart
1989 Getting It Right Joan
1989 Midnight Midnight 1990The Great American Sex Scandal(film) Abby Greyhouwsky
1996 Shine Gillian
1998 Gods and Monsters Hanna
1998 The Hairy Bird Miss McVane AKA,All I Wanna Do
1999 Touched Carrie
1999 The Annihilation of Fish Poinsettia
2000 The Simian Line Katharine
2000 The Next Best Thing Helen Whittaker
2000 Deeply Celia
2000 How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog Edna
2000 Lion of Oz Wicked Witch of the East Voice
2001 Venus and Mars Emily Vogel
2001 My Kingdom Mandy
2002 Spider Mrs. Wilkinson
2002 Unconditional Love Nola Fox
2002 The Wild Thornberrys Movie Cordelia Thornberry Voice
2002 Hansel and Gretel Woman / Witch
2002 Anita and Me Mrs. Ormerod
2003 Charlie's War Grandma Lewis
2003 Peter Pan Aunt Millicent
2004 Kinsey Final Interview Subject
2005 The White Countess Olga Belinskya
2007 The Jane Austen Book Club Mama Sky
2009 Confessions of a Shopaholic Drunken Lady at Ball
2009 My Dog Tulip Nancy / Greengrocer's Wife Voice

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1965 Sunday Out of Season Elaine TV film
1966 Comedy Playhouse Sheila Episode: "The End of the Tunnel"
1966 Love Story Rosemarie Episode: "Ain't Afraid to Dance"
1966 Armchair Theatre Polly Barlow Episode: "Pretty Polly"
1967 Armchair Theatre Ivy Toft
Caroline 		Episode: "I Am Osango"
Episode: "What's Wrong with Humpty Dumpty?"
1968 Love Story Mary Downey Episode: "The Egg on the Face of the Tiger"
1971 Play of the Month Helena Episode: "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
1973 Play of the Month Eliza Doolittle Episode: "Pygmalion"
1974 Vienna 1900 Berta Garlan Episode: "The Spring Sonata"
1974 The Turn of the Screw Miss Jane Cubberly TV film
1976 Kojak Claire Episode: "A Hair-Trigger Away"
1978 Disco Beaver from Outer Space Dr. Van Helsing TV film
1978–1979 Centennial Charlotte Buckland Seccombe TV miniseries
1979 Sooner or Later The teacher TV film
1979 Beggarman, Thief Kate Jordache TV miniseries
1979–1981 House Calls Ann Anderson Main role (41 episodes)
1980 Gauguin the Savage Mette Gad TV film
1980 The Seduction of Miss Leona Miss Leona de Vose TV film
1982 Rehearsal for Murder Monica Welles TV film
1982 CBS Schoolbreak Special Sarah Cotter Episode: "The Shooting"
1982 The Love Boat Patti White 1 episode
1982–1983 Teachers Only Diana Swanson Main role (21 episodes)
1983 Hotel Cathy Knight Episode: "Relative Loss"
1983 Antony and Cleopatra Cleopatra TV film
1984 Fantasy Island Kristen Robbins 1 episode
1984 The Fainthearted Feminist Martha TV series
1984 Murder, She Wrote Abby Benton Freestone Episode: "It's a Dog's Life"
1985 The Bad Seed Monica Breedlove TV film
1986 My Two Loves Marjorie Lloyd TV film
1986 Hotel Audrey Beck Episode: "Restless Nights"
1988 A Woman Alone The Woman TV film
1989 Screen Two Pauline Williams Episode: "Death of a Son"
1989 Chicken Soup Maddie Peerce Main role (12 episodes)
1990 Silent Mouse Narrator TV film
1990 The Great American Sex Scandal Abby Greyhouwsky TV film
1991 What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Jane Hudson TV film
1993 Calling the Shots Maggie Donnelly
1997 Toothless Rogers TV film
1997 Indefensible: The Truth About Edward Brannigan Monica Brannigan TV film
1998 White Lies Inga Kolneder TV film
1998–2001 Rude Awakening Trudy Frank Main role (55 episodes)
1999 The Nanny Herself Episode: "The Yummy Mummy"
1999 Different Amanda Talmadge TV film
1999 A Season for Miracles Hon. Judge Nancy Jakes TV film
2001 Varian's War Alma Werfel-Mahler TV film
2002 My Sister's Keeper Helen Margaret Chapman TV film
2003 The Wild Thornberrys Cordelia Voice, Episodes: "Sir Nigel: Parts 1 & 2"
2006–2007 Eloise: The Animated Series Nanny Voice, Regular role (6 episodes)
2007 Desperate Housewives Dahlia Hainsworth Episode: "Dress Big"
2007 Nurses Peggy Rice TV film
2009 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Emily Huntford Episode: "Folie a Deux"
2009 Ugly Betty Olivia Guillemette Episode: "The Butterfly Effect: Part 1"

Theatre[edit]

Year Title Role House Notes
1962 A Midsummer Night's Dream Helena Royal Court
1962 Billy Liar Dundee
1962 The Tulip Tree Haymarket
1963 The Recruiting Officer Rose National
1963 Andorra Barblin National
1963 Hamlet
1964 Hay Fever Jackie National
1965 Much Ado About Nothing Margaret National
1965–1966 Love for Love
1967 Black Comedy/ The White Liars Carol Melkett National
1970 The Two of Us
1971 Slag
1974 My Fat Friend Vicky
1976 Mrs. Warren's Profession Vivie Warren
1976 Knock Knock Joan Replacement
1976 Misalliance
1977–1978 Saint Joan Joan
1985 Aren't We All? Hon. Mrs. W. Tatham
1987 Sweet Sue Susan Too
1989–1990 Love Letters Melissa Gardner Replacement
1992 A Little Hotel on the Side Angelique Pinglet
1992 The Master Builder Mrs. Aline Solness
1993–1994 Shakespeare for My Father Performer
1995–1996 Moon Over Buffalo Charlotte Hay Replacement
2001 Noises Off
2002 Company Joanne
2005 The Constant Wife Mrs. Culver
2006 The Lost Colony (play) Queen Elizabeth I Waterside Theatre at Fort Raleigh
2009 The Importance of Being Earnest Lady Bracknell Touring

Awards and nominations[edit]

Awards
Year Award Category Production Result
1965 BAFTA Film Award Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles Girl with Green Eyes Nominated
1966 NYFCC Award Best Actress Georgy Girl Won
1967 BAFTA Film Award Best British Actress Nominated
Golden Globe Award Most Promising Newcomer - Female Nominated
Golden Globe Award Best Motion Picture Actress - Musical/Comedy Won
Academy Award Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated
Laurel Awards Female New Face Nominated
1968 KCFCC Award Best Actress Georgy Girl Won
1976 Tony Award Best Actress in a Play Mrs. Warren's Profession Nominated
1981 Golden Globe Award Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series - Musical/Comedy House Calls Nominated
Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Nominated
1983 Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming CBS Afternoon Playhouse Nominated
1993 Tony Award Best Actress in a Play Shakespeare for My Father Nominated
1997 BAFTA Film Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Shine Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by a Cast Nominated
1998 Gemini Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Miniseries White Lies Nominated
1999 Satellite Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Drama Gods and Monsters Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated
BAFTA Film Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated
Independent Spirit Awards Best Supporting Female Won
Academy Award Best Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated
Golden Globe Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture Won
2000 ALFS Award British Supporting Actress of the Year Won
2003 Palm Springs International Film Festival Career Achievement Award Won
2006 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award Best Solo Performance Nightingale Won
Tony Award Best Actress in a Play The Constant Wife Nominated
2007 Grammy Award Best Spoken Word Album for Children The Witches Nominated

References[edit]

  1. ^Potter, Steve (3 August 2016)."City Scene: Gone but not forgotten".The Telegraph.Alton, Illinois:Civitas Media.Retrieved30 November2016....Actress Lynn Redgrave...credited as the only person to have been nominated for all of the "Big Four" awards...without ever winning any of them.
  2. ^The production was not well reviewed in general, butBernard Levin,writing in the LondonDaily Expressunder the headlineAre there any more at home like Lynn Redgrave?,wrote that her performance as Helena was "an outrageous and unforgivable atrocity on the poor Bard, and it is utterly delightful and almost wholly successful. And this astonishing infant is only 18 years old!" (25 January 1962). The fact that the critic Levin was actively courting Redgrave's elder sister Vanessa may have been significant.
  3. ^Redgrave, Lynn.This Is Living,Dutton, May 1991.ISBN978-0-87923-333-4.
  4. ^Eleanor Charles (27 March 2005)."A Redgrave in Four Roles".The New York Times.Retrieved24 April2008.
  5. ^"Breast Cancer Research Foundation".Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
  6. ^"Playbill.com".Archived fromthe originalon 3 December 2013.
  7. ^Prince Caspian– via audible.com.
  8. ^Inkheart– via audible.com.
  9. ^"Lynn Redgrave Wed to John Clark".The New York Times.3 April 1967.Retrieved2 August2010.
  10. ^"Newsfronts: New actor in the cast of Redgraves".Life.7 April 1967.
  11. ^Coveney, Michael (3 May 2010)."Lynn Redgrave obituary".The Guardian.London.Retrieved2 August2010.
  12. ^"Lynn Redgrave obituary".The Daily Telegraph.London. 3 May 2010.Archivedfrom the original on 12 January 2022.Retrieved2 August2010.
  13. ^"Lynn Redgrave obituary".The Times.London. 4 May 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 25 May 2010.Retrieved2 August2010.
  14. ^Actress Lynn Redgrave becomes a U.S. citizen,upi.com. Accessed 27 December 2023.
  15. ^"No. 56430".The London Gazette(Supplement). 31 December 2001. p. 24.
  16. ^"Actress Lynn Redgrave has died at age 67".Archived fromthe originalon 6 May 2010.Retrieved3 May2010.
  17. ^"Actress Lynn Redgrave dies at 67".BBC News.3 May 2010.
  18. ^McLellan, Dennis (4 May 2010)."Lynn Redgrave dies at 67; member of famed acting family".Los Angeles Times.Retrieved17 January2022.
  19. ^"Family, friends say goodbye to Redgrave",CBC News,8 May 2010
  20. ^Judkis, Maura (25 April 2012)."Lynn Redgrave archive acquired by Folger Shakespeare Library".The Washington Post.
  21. ^"Elizabeth Taylor, Selena Gomez Honored at WIN Awards".Look to the Stars.20 January 2011.Retrieved6 December2015.
  22. ^Off Broadway Theater To Be Named After Lynn RedgraveThe New York Times. 19 March 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
  23. ^"45 Bleecker Street Theatre Becomes The Lynn Redgrave Theatre".1 June 2013.

External links[edit]

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